Second Cake
by Laura Roslin
Summary: Kara eats Lucy's (literal) cupcake, Lucy hides Kara's cake, it's Vasquez's birthday, and an alien prisoner breaks out at the DEO. So, all in all, a pretty normal day. Intended as romantic Kalex, but can also be read as gen fic.


SECOND CAKE

"Lucy!"

Lucy jolted awake, her head jerking up off the desk and her whole body jackknifing backwards. Her chair tipped back, rocking on two legs for a moment before her flailing arm managed to snag the corner of the desk. Lucy righted herself and tugged at the hem of her shirt. "Supergirl," she said professionally. The caped superhero was leaning on her hip against the front of Lucy's desk, a partially eaten cupcake in each hand and bit of bright blue frosting on her chin. Lucy surreptitiously wiped a line of drool from her own cheek. She stared, fascinated (and slightly queasy, if she was being honest), as Kara shoved two-thirds of one of the cupcakes in her mouth. Lucy cleared her throat. "Was there something you needed, Kara?"

Kara nodded, licking the fingers of her free hand. "I came to tell you there's cake." She pushed off the desk and turned to face Lucy fully. "It's Vasquez's birthday!" She smiled brightly at Lucy.

Lucy rubbed her eyes. She'd been up 33 straight hours before falling asleep in her office, so it was entirely possible that she was hallucinating Kara floating upside down, then slowly lowering herself, mouth first, onto the remaining cupcake. Lucy stared determinedly past Kara's feet and focused on a painting hanging by the door. "Isn't it a little early for that?"

Kara quickly flipped herself over, still chewing, as her boots settled on the ground. She swallowed. "No, I think Susan's birthday is in, like, two days," she said thoughtfully as she absentmindedly brushed some crumbs off of her chest.

"For cake," Lucy clarified. She could feel the beginning of a headache coming on. "Isn't it too early for cake?"

Kara leaned across the desk. Her hands gripped Lucy's shoulders. "Lucy," she said seriously, her hands tightening and her eyes boring intensely into Lucy's, "it is never too early for cake." She grinned and pulled away, twirling around and bouncing to the door. "C'mon," she called from the doorway. "They're waiting for us to sing!"

Lucy stood and stretched, then followed Kara out into the hallway and towards the break room. She stealthily rubbed her shoulder (apparently Kryptonians hopped up on sugar were stronger than they knew). Her hand came away sticky and streaked with blue. "Yuck," she muttered to herself. "Hey, Danvers!" Kara stopped and spun around. Lucy held her hand up. "Care to tell me what this is?"

Kara leaned down, putting herself eye-level with Lucy's hand. She straightened and clasped her hands behind her back. "It appears to be frosting, Director."

"Appears to be?" Lucy asked sarcastically. "You can't tell?"

Kara bent down quickly and licked Lucy's palm. She straightened back to attention. "Yup, definitely frosting."

"Gross!" Lucy jerked her hand back and scrubbed it on the side of her pants.

Kara grinned unrepentantly. "You wanted to know," she said with a shrug.

She stepped forward and grabbed Lucy's arm with her (thankfully, less sticky) hand and pulled Lucy down the hall. Lucy let herself be led. At least there would be coffee once they got there. And food. And cake. Cake. Wait a second. "Wait a second," she said aloud, coming to an abrupt stop. Kara pulled her for a couple of feet before she noticed that Lucy was no longer walking.

"What's wrong?" Kara asked, looked back at Lucy.

Lucy squinted at Kara. "You said they were waiting for us to sing."

"Yeah," Kara said, jerking her head in the direction of the break room. "We should hurry."

Lucy frowned. "But then why were you already eating the cupcakes? You're supposed to sing first."

"Oh," Kara said with a smile, "no, those were the pre-cake cupcakes."

"Pre-cake cupcakes?"

"Yeah!" Kara said excitedly. She cocked her head to the side. "Did you not have those growing up? Don't worry," she said, rubbing Lucy's arm consolingly, "neither did Susan."

"Huh." Lucy shook her head fell into step beside Kara. "So they're cupcakes you eat before—"

"Before the cake," Kara agreed.

Lucy came to an abrupt stop. "Hold up." She pulled Kara around to face her. Lucy stared at her friend suspiciously. "Was one of those cupcakes for me?"

Kara shrugged, her eyes shifting nervously. "Possibly?" Kara answered meekly. Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Don't do that!" Kara complained.

"Do what?" Lucy asked, hiking her eyebrow farther.

"That!" Kara exclaimed. "That thing with your eyebrow." Lucy let go of Kara's elbow and crossed her arms over her chest. She waited. "Fine," Kara huffed. "Maybe one of those was supposed to be for you. But no one ever said!"

"Hmm, I feel like it was pretty much implied," Lucy said. "I mean, someone gives you two cupcakes and asks you to go fetch someone…"

"A box," Kara mumbled.

"What?" Lucy leaned closer.

"I said a box," Kara repeated. "Alex gave me a box of cupcakes and asked me to go find you."

Lucy felt equal parts horrified and impressed (a feeling she was getting to know all too well now that she spent more time around Kara and her food). She unfolded her arms and stepped past Kara, not surprised when the Kryptonian fell in beside her (a slight step ahead of Lucy, always protective, even in the DEO). "A box? How many cupcakes were in there?"

Kara's brow furrowed as she came to a stop in front of the breakroom. "Six?" she said uncertainly, resting her hand on the knob. "Or eight. Definitely no more than ten," she declared stoutly.

"There were 12 of them," Alex said helpfully as she pulled the door open from the inside.

"Alex!" Kara squealed, floating forward and pulling Alex into a hug. She twirled them around. "I found Lucy!"

"So I see," Alex responded fondly. "Wanna put me down?"

"Sure!" Kara chirped. She gently set Alex down. "Did you sing yet?"

"Nope, we were waiting on the two of you. Why don't you go find Vasquez and tell her we're ready?"

"Okay!" Kara gave Alex a quick peck on the cheek then spun off across the room.

Alex turned to Lucy, a light blush on her face, and shrugged. "Sugar high."

Lucy opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by a startled looking Vasquez being thrust between them.

"Here's the birthday girl!" Kara announced cheerfully.

The startled look stayed on Susan's face until the song was over and she blew out all 31 candles. Alex deftly began removing the candles as a line began forming behind Vasquez and Kara. Lucy took a step back and watched as Alex cut the rectangular cake neatly in half. "Corner or inside Vas?"

"Corner," she replied definitively. Alex neatly sliced a large piece and passed it over to Susan.

"Corner, please," Kara said happily as she skipped up beside Alex. Lucy felt her mouth drop as Alex lifted half of the cake, slid it onto a platter, and handed it to Kara. Kara took it and a fork (which she had produced mysteriously from somewhere in her uniform. Lucy was side-eyeing that hard) and sat down at a nearby table, completely oblivious to Lucy's gaping.

Lucy looked back at Alex, who had just finished cutting up the rest of the cake. "Did you just give her half of that?"

Alex nodded, brushing her hair back out of her face and tucking it behind her ear. She motioned to a box on a nearby table. "I have a back-up."

Lucy walked over and lifted the lid. A duplicate of the now-decimated birthday cake sat inside. "A second cake."

Alex stepped up beside her and carefully pulled the cake out. She set it down gently. "First rule of living with a Kryptonian: Always have a second cake."

Lucy nodded, about to respond (with something probably totally witty), when an alarm began blaring. She looked at Alex. "Escaped prisoner," they said together. They both moved for the door. Alex pulled Lucy to a stop. "Did you even sleep yesterday?" Lucy reluctantly shook her head. Alex pushed her down on a bench. "Stay there," she mouthed. "All right everybody," Alex said loudly, "you know what to do. Vasquez, I'm gonna need you back on comms. Supergirl, you're with me and Alpha Team. Let's go."

Lucy leaned back and watched everyone surge out of the room. She dug in her pocket for her earpiece and slipped it in in time to hear Vasquez bring everyone on line. "Okay Alpha Team Leader, looks like we have an Aellon loose in corridor B in sector 7."

"I've got point," Alex said, her voice slightly tinny. "Two rear guards, everyone else in tight behind me when we get there. Supergirl on my four."

Then there were only the sounds of breathing and boot steps. Lucy nervously bounced her leg and rubbed her hands together. This was always the hardest thing to get used to, staying behind and listening to others dive into the thick of things. "Approaching Corridor B," one of the team members said. Collins, Lucy identified, his slight accent giving him away.

"I've got eyes on him," Alex said suddenly. "Looks like he's trying to dig through the wall. Vas, can we communicate with him?"

"Negative."

"All right, on my count, Liebert and Fitz take him out. One, two, mark!"

There were sudden cries from multiple members of the team and a crashing sound loud enough to echo through Lucy's earpiece. She gripped the edge of the bench hard enough to feel metal biting into her palms. Breathless moments later, Alex's voice came back on line. "Well, that didn't work," she panted. "Tranqs appear to have no effect on him."

"Except to make him angry," Kara chimed in helpfully.

"Yeah," Alex agreed. Her breathing was sharp, like she was jogging. "I've sent the rest of the team to seal off this sector. Supergirl and I are going after him."

"Do you have a plan, ma'am?" Vasquez's voice echoed dryly over the comms.

"Yep. He's basically a reptile, so when we find him, Supergirl is gonna do her thing."

"I think we've got him in Corridor F," Collins called out.

"Eyes on," Alex confirmed. "You ready, Supergirl?"

"I was born ready!" Kara replied firmly. "I've got this. Hey Reptile Guy!" There was a long, inhuman screech that made Lucy cover her ears. "You know," Kara said loudly, as the screeching grew even louder, "you don't look so tough. In fact, you kinda look like a lizard. And if you're anything like them," she said, her voice growing louder as she seemingly moved closer to the Aellon, "you're not a fan of the cold. And guess what? Winter is coming!"

A loud rush of wind reverberated through the comms. The shriek abruptly cut off, and Lucy could just make out a thud as (hopefully) the Aellon's body struck the ground. "Got him!" Kara said cheerfully.

There was a muffled squeak from Alex as Kara (presumably) picked her up and squeezed her. Lucy's theory was supported by Alex's slightly breathy response. "Good job, Supergirl."

"I know!" Kara said excitedly. "It was so cool right? I mean, how many times am I gonna get to say winter is coming and it actually work?"

"It was pretty epic," Alex agreed. She cleared her throat. "All right, we've got our hostile down in Corridor F. Let's move him to that empty cell in C Block for now. Good job everyone."

Lucy removed her earpiece and stood and stretched. She looked at the detritus that had been left behind when everyone bolted. Lucy sighed, and began picking up the trash. The perks of being the boss. She had made her way through about half the room when the door burst open and Kara rushed in. "Lucy!" she exclaimed gleefully, "I got him!"

"I heard," Lucy agreed. She listened bemusedly as Kara recounted the entire confrontation.

"And then," Kara said, waving her arms for emphasis as Alex pushed open the door and stepped into the room, "I said, 'Winter is coming!'" Kara flopped down on a nearby chair, exhausted either by the action itself or the retelling of it; Lucy was unsure which. A large grin overtook Kara's face when she noticed Alex. "It was so cool, right?"

"Totally," Alex agreed with a smile as she leaned down a wiped a smudge of dirt off of Kara's cheek. Kara smiled and leaned into Alex's hand. Alex looked to Lucy. "Any cake left?"

"Ooo, yes, cake!" Kara sprang up and floated over to her previous table, which was now empty. "Um, Lucy?"

Alex raised an eyebrow at Lucy. Lucy winked, then turned to Kara. "What's up, Kara?

"What happened to the plate on this table?"

"Oh, I think I threw it away," Lucy said off-handedly.

Kara's lower lip wobbled. "Lucy, are you serious?"

Lucy nodded. "Yep, pretty sure." She walked over and patted Kara's hand. "Don't worry, there wasn't even any cake left on it. It was all just icing."

Kara looked stricken. "But I had to eat through so much cake to get to the frosting!"

Alex broke first, laughing at Kara's sad puppy face. "It's okay, Lucy's just messing with you."

"Yeah, it's right here," Lucy said, opening the fridge and pulling out the remnants of Kara's cake. Kara all but snatched it out of Lucy's hands and took it to a far corner table, hunching over the cake and wrapping a protective arm around the platter it rested on. In moments the Kryptonian was finished and staring longingly at the empty plate.

Lucy looked at Alex and raised an eyebrow. "Second cake?"

"Second cake," Alex agreed.


End file.
